SoundingBoard vs GoTalk® NOW LITE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SoundingBoard
Create custom communication boards quickly using pre-made symbols or your own words. This app provides a powerful tool for individuals needing alternative communication methods. It supports switch access for enhanced usability.
- Customizable communication boards
- AbleNet symbol integration
- User-added words
- Switch access support
- Compatible with AbleNet Blue2 Switch
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SoundingBoard transforms your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into the latest in communication technology. In just minutes, you can create custom boards using AbleNet symbols or your own words. Perfect for children in special education, persons on the autism spectrum, and adults with disabilities. SoundingBoard includes switch access and is compatible with the AbleNet Blue2 Switch.
GoTalk® NOW LITE
This communication app helps individuals with speech difficulties create personalized pages for expression. It offers adjustable layouts, recorded speech, text-to-speech, and an included symbol set. Additional features and unlimited pages are available through in-app purchases.
- Personalized communication pages
- Adjustable page layouts
- Recorded and text-to-speech capabilities
- Included symbol set
- Multiple page styles (Standard, Express, Scene)
- Multimedia integration (video, music)
- Full-feature scanning
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Attainment has been making augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools for 25 years. Our experience is front and center in GoTalk NOW LITE, a communication app that introduces you to the flexibility, ease of use, and power of Attainment’s popular GoTalk NOW. GoTalk NOW LITE is a fully functional augmentative communication app for those who have difficulty speaking. Create up to three personalized communication pages in this free app! GoTalk NOW LITE has all the essentials of an effective AAC app, like adjustable page layouts, customizable navigation, recorded and text-to-speech capabilities, and an included symbol set. If you need more Communication Pages or the ability to share, simply upgrade your GoTalk NOW LITE to full GoTalk NOW Features via an in-app purchase. The new LITE offers three styles of communication pages: Standard, Express, and Scene. In Standard pages, the action occurs when the location is pressed. In Express pages, recorded or text-to-speech messages build in a speech bar and play in sequence when the bar is pressed. Scene pages are built around a single photo or image. When you arrange invisible hotspots over people or objects in the photo, the hotspots play speech, music, or videos! Feel free to mix and match pages within a communication book. Create a communication book with unique settings and up to 5 pages in length. Envision the impact of blending video, music, and jump to actions among your pages. Plus, GoTalk NOW LITE is a full-feature scanning app! Features: • Choose 1, 2, 4, 9, 16, 25 or 36 locations per page. • Use images from your iPad camera, photo library, or the GoTalk Image Library. • Search the Internet in-app for the perfect image or icon. • Purchase SymbolStix, PCS, or Widgit Symbols libraries in-app. • Crop, scale, or rotate an image using your fingers. • Combine multiple images in a single communication location. • Color pages, borders, and text with any hue. • Move and size text with your fingers so it feels just right. • Record your voice or use our free text-to-speech voice. • Add spoken labels (auditory cues) to any button. Great for scanning, guiding visually impaired users, and identifying any new or difficult vocabulary. • Trim videos in-app, and play them from any communication location. • Select our alternate video interface to pause or exit the video easily. • Link songs from your playlist to any communication location and control them with Pause/Play, Next, and Previous. • Include a core vocabulary button for extra quick access to important messages. • Create multimedia social stories and step-by-step instruction layouts by linking pages with an after action. •In-app purchase allows for back up of communication books via Dropbox or to any Mac or PC for safekeeping. • Ability to create multiple books with unlimited pages via in-app purchase. • Store and share interactive templates (each including speech, video, text, and jump to links) on our online gallery via in-app purchase. • Download and edit premade templates from Attainment’s collection on the public gallery available via in-app purchase. • Print and save communication book layouts via PDFs. • Access LITE with single or two-switch scanning. Attainment is well known for top-notch customer service. Email us with questions or comments and check our website for free webinars. And yes, we're happy to talk to you on the telephone!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: GoTalk® NOW LITE at 4.2 against SoundingBoard's 3.5. GoTalk® NOW LITE also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). SoundingBoard's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. SoundingBoard sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and GoTalk® NOW LITE sells 20 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
GoTalk® NOW LITE holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 34 and 17 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of SoundingBoard's written reviews are positive against 53% of GoTalk® NOW LITE's.
SoundingBoard ships an update every 3 months, GoTalk® NOW LITE every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SoundingBoard | GoTalk® NOW LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (34 ratings) | 4.2 (17 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.2% of reviews | 52.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 34 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 235 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AbleNet | Attainment Company |
Customer experience
SoundingBoard
GoTalk® NOW LITE
Bugs and requests
SoundingBoard
Reported bugs
19 issues- App crashing on startup after purchase
- Folders not saving changes
- Created boards disappearing
- Edit lock not working, student can edit pictures
- Cannot record voice over preloaded boards
Show 14 moreShow fewer
- App crashes after in-app purchase
- App crashes every time going into the app
- User created boards not showing up correctly
- Cannot record voice, does not save
- Cannot create new boards with new symbols, save button does nothing
- Sound quit working on iPad 2 with OS 6
- Two touches needed to activate icon/button
- Last time content was added, it didn't work
- Recordings play back very quietly
- Audio does not work at all
- Does not work on iPod touch
- Images are small, cells are small, does not utilize entire screen
- Difficult to get back to the home screen
- Losing new pages after saving
Requested features
20 requests- Large button icons for board selection
- Login system to save boards across platforms
- Ability to log in and save boards across devices
- User login system for shared boards
- Ability to erase pre-made boards
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- Choose a default board to open with
- iPad version to avoid magnification issues
- Sentence strip option
- Improve picture library search
- Facility to play music tracks directly
- More picture cards for school-related content
- More choices for layout on initial screen
- Option to change background color
- Improve navigation for board design
- Basic pre-formatted pages
- Editing options for pics and boards (size, placement)
- Basic communication symbols (yes/no, alphabet)
- More PX available on a page
- Better contrasting pictures with black background
- Universal or iPad version
GoTalk® NOW LITE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SoundingBoard
- Mealtime_MaleFree
- Mealtime_FemaleFree
- Getting Dressed_MaleFree
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- Getting Dressed_FemaleFree
- General Conversation_MaleFree
- General Conversation_FemaleFree
- Fast Food Restaurant_MaleFree
- Fast Food Restaurant_FemaleFree
- Movies_MaleFree
- Movies_FemaleFree
GoTalk® NOW LITE
- Kenny$0.99
- Nelly$0.99
- Ryan$0.99
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Tracy$0.99
- Will$0.99
- Rod$0.99
- Lizzie$0.99
- Tiana$0.99
- Owen$0.99
- Rodrigo$0.99
- Malik$0.99
- Ella$11.99
- Josh$11.99
- Ready-Set-Communicate$19.99
- Talk All Day$19.99
- SymbolStix$49.99
- English (US) Keywords$59.99
- AAC2go (Girl 3-10)$79.99
- AAC2go (Boy 3-10)$79.99
- Upgrade to GoTalk NOW Features$119.99
Questions
Is SoundingBoard free?
Is GoTalk® NOW LITE free?
Which has better reviews, SoundingBoard or GoTalk® NOW LITE?
Do SoundingBoard or GoTalk® NOW LITE have ads?
Which is updated more often, SoundingBoard or GoTalk® NOW LITE?
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